Rodney Harrison was one of the best safeties of his era. A two-time Super Bowl champion and two-time All-Pro. The guy played in the league a long time. During that period he saw the absolute highs and lows of coaching in the NFL. From Mike Riley in San Diego to Bill Belichick in New England. So he has a pretty good idea of what head coaches are supposed to look like. When it comes to Matt Nagy? He’s seen enough.
In his mind, Harrison would’ve pulled the plug already. Both Nagy and GM Ryan Pace played central roles in making the Chicago Bears a laughing stock this season. Something that hurts doubly for him since he’s been a fan of the organization for a long time. Harrison was born in Markham, Illinois, and went to high school and college in the state. He grew up a Bears fan. So to see the team in this state has to hurt. He said as much to Jeff Agrest of the Chicago Sun-Times.
“Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy and that organization have killed all hope. You screw up the draft with Mitchell Trubisky, most general managers don’t get a second opportunity.”
Hard to argue with that.
As for Nagy, the former safety has tried to stay patient with the head coach. He knew Trubisky wasn’t the guy at quarterback so like other Bears fans he gave Nagy the benefit of the doubt. After seeing what has transpired this season? Harrison now realizes that was a mistake. For him, there were plenty of warning signs but nothing stood out more than when the man chose to start Andy Dalton at quarterback over Justin Fields.
“All my career, all I’ve heard from the best coaches in the world is competition makes us better,” Harrison said. “You have to earn your job. And when Nagy names Dalton the starter, I’m thinking, ‘Are you kidding me? That’s not right.’ When he did that, I knew Nagy wasn’t the right guy.”
If Harrison is saying that, one can imagine the reaction in the Bears locker room was largely the same. It isn’t a coincidence rumors began to surface during training camp and the preseason that some players were angry that Fields wasn’t getting more of an opportunity. Not only did Nagy refuse to consider competition, but he went so far as to not give the rookie any reps with the first-team offense in practice. A decision he no doubt regrets.
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Rodney Harrison knows the time to move on is past due
The big question becomes who do the Bears get to come in and work with Fields? The NBC analyst had a suggestion for that as well. He urged the team to bring in Eric Bieniemy, Nagy’s replacement in Kansas City as Chiefs offensive coordinator. Bieniemy has overseen the rise of Patrick Mahomes over the past four seasons. A run that includes an MVP year in 2018 and a Super Bowl title in 2019. Many feel Bieniemy is long overdue for an opportunity.
While it isn’t a terrible suggestion by Rodney Harrison, it is difficult to see the Bears doing that. Why? Namely, because they already experimented with a Chiefs offensive coordinator once before. That didn’t go so well. Would they really bark up the same tree a second time? That feels unlikely. Yet the primary message from Harrison is clear. Find an offensive guru that will know how to get the most out of Fields.
Just make sure the guy actually knows what he’s doing this time.
There are plenty of options out there with such a track record. Josh McDaniels in New England. Kellen Moore in Dallas. Scott Turner in Washington. Byron Leftwich in Tampa Bay. Nathaniel Hackett in Green Bay. Not to mention a number of possible college options. George McCaskey may finally have his quarterback. Now can he finally find his head coach?
